Who jinxed it Mondailies

It has happened where a sports announcer might mention a cetain pitcher hasn't given up a home run in a long time, or maybe a quarter back hasn't thrown an interception for a long time, and shortly thereafter, what hasn't been done is done. That is known as jinxing. So someone in the media mentioned about two weeks ago how this was the lowest tornado occuring season in 60 years, and boom, last week, big tornadoes near Fort Worth Texas, and yesterday, major tornadoes in Oklahoma, with great possibilities of further tornadoes today....

So what does this have to do with running?....If landrunner has to run from one, with his slow speed nowadays, great opportunity to greatly increase speed percentage. Notice he is now "Cat", and those critters can run pretty fast also. Never did post Die Fledermaus overture on youtube upon reaching mouse status, but now cat, reminds landrunner of this old alley cat tune....

So yesterday was landrunner sandwich, with two major tornadoes systems, one in Edmond and striking points east, and the southern one in Norman and striking points east from there, and landrunner safely in Midwest city. Well, guess Oklahoma got it's tornado alley back along with the earthquake alley, and landrunner an alley cat...well...let others judge.

As a result, running on back burner this past weekend, so maybe get out early today for four before the heavens fireup again.

Dr.Bart, landrunner didn't sleep well last night as well, so in good company with you and the 'nadoes as well.

Lap'd, just finished off Saturday's coffee, so new pot due upon getting up later this morning.

Burg, welcome to the forum. Quite an eclectic set of folks on here.

Marco, read how Anchorage, Alaska broke its snow falling average with snow up to this point in May....heck, Alaska is way up north and cold, don't they have snow all year round anyways?

Itza, enjoy the tapped 15 today.

Mark, landrunner actually read your last paragraph first, and he doesn't even know how to remove square joints, or if there is such a square joint in automobiles, let alone ball joints.

EG, guess it is pretty muggy in Florida all year round? Was in Orlando last July.

Burgler, you not much younger than landrunner. He was conceived about 60 years ago. Great job with relay.

Landrunner - thanks again for the early start. It is indeed a strange paradox that the USA, which has been blessed with an abundance of natural resources is also the place where the worst weather, or the greatest number of weather-related disasters, occurs each year. You have the good fortune or misfortune to live in an area that seems to have more than its fair share of weather crises.

So for the QOTD: What precautions do you take when heading out for a run when weather problems are anticipated or what conditions would delay or stop you from starting a run?

Today, with no anticipated weather issues where I am, it will be the track tonight for 400m intervals.

Good morning Land, Burglar, EGeary and all to follow. I have a short recovery on tap.

Land - I've learned way too much about cars out of necessity. :-)

Burglar - Hope the track session is good.

EGeary - Good morning

FOR to QOTD: Lightening and ice stop me. Most other conditions only change how I approach or change how much I put on. Snow often slows me down and makes tempo runs more difficult, but I still get out there and do what I can. OK EGeary, I suppose a hurricane would stop me too. Come to think of it, super high winds by themselves may stop me. They haven't yet, but I've not faced 40 MPH winds yet so I don't know.

Landrunner: thank you for the start, glad to hear you have a nice brew to enjoy today. I hope you never need to outrun a tornado. Our weather is in a holding pattern now, with gray skies and rain lingering.

Today and this week actually, is very busy with kids schedules and my work. Need to get as much done this week because next week I am taking some time off to recover. Have made myself a list. Little dd goes to orthodonist today and then I work. Will run just a couple miles later. This weekend however, we made great strides with the yard. The garden is planted and so are most of my flowers.

Probably no computer for 40 days. Will try to keep up to date. At ABQ heading to PHX, PHL, CDG then a 5 hour train to St. Jean Pied de Port and taxi to a hotel a few miles from Roncesvalles Tuesday night. Lightning and these frequent wind storms in the high desert are factors. I once told the opposing hockey goalie congrats on the shutout with a minute left. I was able to score on him so the jinx worked for me.

RUN DONE: An easy fish. Felt sluggish at first, but just embraced slow, and the feeling went away. The 69 degrees felt fine with the early mist and "no sun" darkness.

Resumed stretching this morning. I've let it somewhat slip over the course of several months, but decided to stretch before posting... of course, I should have done that all along. It was just procrastination because I don't like stretching. But it's the right thing so it must be done before posting. If I run out of time, such is life.

Lap'd, Land and all other coffee lovers - Enjoying my Sumatra coffee... I like Starbucks Sumatra but this Sam's Choice from Walmart is almost as good, and is a great bargain at about 45 cents/oz. I'm curious what kind of coffee do you like?

I've even tried the Civit Coffee (Sumatra) that some would call poo coffee :-) because it was a gift. It was excellent, yet the difference was certainly not worth the price. Even those who said "ew... I'd never taste that!"... did have some too.

Lap'd - The yard work that you and some others here do amazes me. I so appreciate seeing what my wife does on the yard, yet if I were alone, it'd never get done... it's just not worth the time. I'd mow, but that's it. OK... whack weeds, but no more. :-) But I sure love how it looks when someone really good at that does their magic.

ShreveRunner - Wow, what a trip. I want to see a Trip report when you're done. :-) Really. I do. Awesome.

A tornado would surely give incentive to run faster! No twisters here, but lots of rain and noisy thunder.

Ran 10 with DH yesterday. When getting dressed to run, had nice surprise in finding $5 in my shorts pocket (looked like it got washed a few times). Normally thunderstorms and strong winds are likely to stop my run plans. DH thought weather was clearing up but still rumbles of thunder around. We planned our route (a loop) where second half went nearby businesses and places we could get out of bad weather if it made a turn for the worse. I left the $5 in my pocket just in case bad weather coincided with urge for coffee break. It started pouring again by mile 1 with just occasional thunder/lightening so we kept going. The rain reconstituted the paper money and it looks good as new again.

Busy day ahead. Sina and I are going to Hilton Head (SC) in an attempt to re-decorate my folks house there (they are gone for the summer and have agreed to this). I'm sure we will find some kind of trouble in their highly covenanced neighborhood. DH complains that he is not allowed to run without a shirt on. The rules don't mention pants and he keeps threatening to challenge it--Im glad we are leaving him at home.

Shreve - have a great trip! 40 days without a computer is not necessarily a bad thing.

Burglar - please do not steal my cat! You aren't Chinese, are you??

Land - glad you are safe! If I lived in Kansas or Oklahoma, no way in heck would I live in a mobile home!!! Thanks goodness for early warnings that allowed the people to get to safety this time.

Morning, peeps. SRD for me after not much sleep (third night in hotel bed, I guess). Heading for the airport in an hour or so to return to the Casa. My taxi service is the same person that I paced in OKC, and who took the pix of Land and I. Hopefully I will avoid the tornadoes, which came close enough to the Casa yesterday from a glimpse I got of a weather map on TV at the (enormous) health club where my class took place.

This club was unbelievable. I think it was bigger than a Walmart Supercenter, with two levels to boot. About the only thing they didn't have was an indoor track. Indoor and outdoor pools, two full sized basketball courts, yoga, pilates, studios for Zumba classes or whatever, big spinning room, enough weight machines and free weights to make Joe Weider jealous, dozens of treadmills and ellipticals and stairsteppers, a cafe, even a desk where you could purchase Garmins and Polars. And one tiny meeting room. Saturday morning when I got there at 7:50, the parking lot was packed.

Good morning everyone. I am still yawning, I have yet to have my coffee. DH and I went to the park where the 50 will take place. I ran 22 mi and he rode his mountain bike, since it is a mtn bik trail. I was very pleased with how runnable the terrain is (at least the section I was on), although I am not sure how runnable anything is after 26+ mi. My legs were tired from the miles on Friday and Saturday, and my HR was nowhere near being high, so I am hoping race day will be manageable. I was hoping to do the full first loop, which is 26 mi, but we were pressed for time so I had to settle for an out and back. Good think I did not go 26 mi, since I ran out of fluids with 3 mi to go. That really has to stop happening, or I have to learn to drink less/smarter.

Land - I am a huge believer in jinx/superstition. People at work utter the word "quiet" or "slow" and I hush them. Glad you were safe from the tornadoes.

Boston - enjoy the intervals.

EGeary - yeah, I probably wouldn't run in a hurricane.

Lap'd - glad you got your garden planted. I have not yet because DH forgot to get dolomite. I am not 100% sure we need it, but feel like I should follow the planter instructions. If I am remembering correctly, this is not the year you have ducklings, since you had them last year?

Shreve - safe travels.

MR - I used to be a dark roast fan, mostly because that is what DH drank, but now I am really enjoying light roasts. We've been working on a bag of Allegro Mexico Zaragoza. I have never had the civet coffee and read that civets are kept in cages under inhumane conditions in order to produce that coffee. That is not meant to make you feel bad, I just don't think a lot of people know how that coffee is obtained. I was shocked when I learned about it, since I though they originally obtained poop coffee from poo they found, and that is why it was so expensive, because it was hard to gather/obtain. Anyway, it seemed very sad to me, and I agree, probably not worth the price. Plus, it's just gross (albeit somewhat hilarious) to say "I drink poo coffee".

Edit: Good morning DrBart and Spider. DrBart, congrats on the 10k, nice improvisation and a successful race! Your DH is funny. Spider, safe travels back to the casa.

QOTD - I am not terribly picky with weather. I found this winter hard, but because we had a lot of days where there was snow or ice on the ground. However, unless I am at a hotel with a treadmill, I do not have the option to run inside. I am fine with thunder storms, evening lightning is fine, although I do not purposely head out in those conditions. If it happens to start while I am running, I don't stop and wait it out. As MarkRice mentioned, ice is bad and it has high potential for injury, so I will have to run on salted roads, or not run at all if it is too icy. Most runs I go on are free of traffic, thanks to trails and the multi-use towpath, which really comes in handy if visibility is poor (blowing snow, fog).

Couldn't get my butt out of bed early enough this morning. Had issues with DD2. I swear having kids is like being pecked to death by a duck. Anywho, going to get some speed work in this afternoon.

MarkRice- I've been bad about stretching too lately. I put my foam roller in the middle of my bathroom so I would remember. I do feel better when I usd it.Lap'd- I stick to marigolds & zinnias. I find it harder to kill them. My Mom can grow anything but I think the must have missed out on that gene.Burglar - heading to the track too. I do not like the track. Landrunner- I enjoy a good thunderstorm on occasion but dislike wind. My home is near 100 years old and makes a lot of noise when the wind gets to blowing. Glad you stayed safe.

Spider - sounds like my gym (Lifetime Fitness). There is even rock-climbing walls, squash courts, free daycare, a hair salon, and a café. The indoor and outdoor pools each have waterslides. Locker room and pools have free towel service. Most all of the classes and clubs are included in membership and is very reasonable ($59/mo) for all you get (can also use clubs in other cities when traveling). There are 5 of them in reasonable distance to my home and I hope they keep building more of them.

Spider - sounds like my gym (Lifetime Fitness). There is even rock-climbing walls, squash courts, free daycare, a hair salon, and a café. The indoor and outdoor pools each have waterslides. Locker room and pools have free towel service. Most all of the classes and clubs are included in membership and is very reasonable ($59/mo) for all you get (can also use clubs in other cities when traveling). There are 5 of them in reasonable distance to my home and I hope they keep building more of them.

DrBart -- that's exactly what it is. Lifetime Fitness. I left out the rockclimbing wall. And the waterslides. Didn't see squash courts or a hair salon, but they wouldn't surprise me. I did see the daycare area. And the free towels, which I got to use yesterday after my morning fish. As guests of the club for the class, we got free run of the place for the weekend, anything we wanted to use. I probably would have used an indoor track rather than run in 90-degree heat Saturday night, but since there wasn't one...

gm, i have a local coffee roaster i am loyal too. the blends i seem to prefer have chocolate and/or currant nodes in them. french roast is one example. my current blend is called "milwaukee blend" so i'm pretty sure nobody else on here has had it.

drB - i love finding surprises like that. for a few years, i would plant $20 in my winter jacket. nowadays though, the surprises are due to forgetfullness as opposed to intentional planting.

lap'd - got some yard work done as well. bought a few veggie/herbs plants yesterday that i'll get in the ground tonight. have some mulching to do around the current plants as well. hope you can get some resting in this week.

mark - glad you could get a run in. please do not mention stretching anymore as it makes me feel bad for not doing mine.

shreve - sounds like quite an adventure! travel safe.

boston - great result this weekend!

land - be safe. scary.

16 yesterday went really well yesterday but for some reason i was just toast the rest of the day. the run took all my energy. it was the warmest it's been for a LR since last fall so i'll chalk it up to that. pfitz 18/70 officially starts for me today but i've already kinda been doing most of the schedule the past few weeks. already i'm moving runs around due to this weeks schedule. i think it will be abnormal if i actually do a run on it's actual day within the schedule.

good morning and welcom burg. last night i was thinking the same thing about my kids. all weekend long they were as close to angels as they could be but last night something crawled up their tushes and uggghhh...

CVB - i agree, all the ice this past winter/spring sent me to the TM way more than i care to. well, once is more than i care to, but you get it.

A tornado would surely give incentive to run faster! No twisters here, but lots of rain and noisy thunder.

Ran 10 with DH yesterday. When getting dressed to run, had nice surprise in finding $5 in my shorts pocket (looked like it got washed a few times). Normally thunderstorms and strong winds are likely to stop my run plans. DH thought weather was clearing up but still rumbles of thunder around. We planned our route (a loop) where second half went nearby businesses and places we could get out of bad weather if it made a turn for the worse. I left the $5 in my pocket just in case bad weather coincided with urge for coffee break. It started pouring again by mile 1 with just occasional thunder/lightening so we kept going. The rain reconstituted the paper money and it looks good as new again.

Land - glad you are safe! If I lived in Kansas or Oklahoma, no way in heck would I live in a mobile home!!! Thanks goodness for early warnings that allowed the people to get to safety this time.

Yes Dr.Bart, the precision weather reporting and warnings around here are amazing. At one point, they said there was a tornado going down 2nd Street in Edmond. Now that has the church that a couple of first cousins once removed from landrunner got married, as well as a couple of funerals for their grandparents as well in recent years. Thankfully, that area was basically spared, but others not so.

Landrunner will run in anything, but DW will not let me run when it is thunder and lightning outside. Heavy blizzards with sandblasting headwinds with several inches of snow on the ground, like Christmas eve of 2009.....that's ok.

Ugh. Flight delayed, connection missed. Three more hours in SA, then long layover at DFW before return to the Casa. Airline in question seems to make a habit of this. Glad I don't actually have to get back this afternoon. Maybe I should do strides on the concourse, but it appears I would trip on a leash of one of the numerous TSA dogs sniffing everything in sight.

Well, I didn't win the Powerball jackpot, so back to work today. Actually, I didn't even match one number.

On the running front, I'll try to get a short run in after work--I also need to cut the grass that I ignored this past weekend. Coffee? I admit to being a bit of a coffee snob; life's too short for bad coffee or lousy beer. Speaking of beer, JOLVm: you mentioned New Glarus a couple of days ago and that sounded very familiar, then I remembered I had some of their beers when I was in La Crosse last summer--good stuff!

Runn262: congrats on the marathon--nice improvement! We're in the same AG.

Land: I've been 2 blocks away from tornadoes twice in my life, both in Michigan of all places (once as a kid, the other when in college in Kalamazoo). Pretty scary stuff.

Spider: I'm from Michigan originally and the Traverse City area has always been one of my favorite parts of the state--hope you have some time to enjoy it after your BQ. Some decent wineries up there if you're into wine.

QOTD: lightning and icy conditions make me stay inside. We also get some good wind storms around here. In March, trying to catch up on my training for Boston, I had a 17 mile run planned and the wind was blowing at a steady 25-30 mph, with higher gusts. After 7 miles of running into that, I was toast. Turned around and took a short cut home, struggling to even get 11.5. I won't try a long run in the wind again.

Tired again today. May has been a marathon of social engagements. I still have memorial weekend coming up. Good thing this is not a heavy training period.

I will go for an easy 6 today. I am in mini-taper mode for my June 2 marathon. I haven't trained for this one, it's been pretty chill so I'm going to continue in my chill mode. It's kind of nice not to have the pressure of training and trying to get a certain time in a marathon. It reminds me that I like the rigor of running, and that I should forget about times more often.

QOTD - I am a weather wimp, so many things would stop me. I guess they don't really stop me, I just head to the gym and TM if it is raining, or windy. That's all we get here, no sub zero temps, snow, ice, or even muggy really.

Land - I have yet to figure out what those titles mean. I think they are random events, one day you are a tortoise, the next day a guinea pig, then on to wharf rat.

Egeary - but what about April - November then?

Mark - have fun on your recovery. I like getting in just enough miles to feel a mood boost on those. Also doesn't all coffee kind of taste like poo coffee anyway?

Lap'd - it's that time of year for so many kid things, I've been getting hit with things too. It's not bad when I can plan, but my kids tend to say "oh ya, I forgot about....." and then I have to add something into the schedule suddenly. Then I get cranky.

Shreve - Hope you enjoy your solo adventure. That sounds so lovely right about now, escaping. I was driving home along the 5 yesterday and thought "What if I just kept driving?" straight into Mexico, just keep on heading south. Spontaneous road trip with $80 in my pocket

DrBart - Paper money endures several washings/dryings, ATM cards do not. I just had to replace mine after I left it in my running shorts pocket. One session in the dryer bent it horribly, so it is non-swipeable now.

Spider - sorry for your delay, I really hate traveling. Love being places, hate getting to and from though.

CVB - Were you able to keep up with DH on his bike? That would be a good pacer, keep you moving. Glad the course looks doable.

Burg - kids grow so fast though, I never thought I'd be one of those people saying that. Two of mine left for college, two are still at home. It's getting quieter and quieter around my house. It really does happen eventually.

JOLVm- runs are so funny, sometimes I'm toast after a shorter run, sometimes I could just keep going. My trail run must have been too short, I had way too much energy yesterday after. I can't make rhyme or reason on why that happens though.

Runn262 - My upcoming marathon was my PR marathon last year, it was a great fast course. They changed the course unfortunately, now we have a 250 drop for one mile in the beginning, then we have a 250 foot 1 mile climb at mile 21. I truly doubt I will PR this time. Why do they change fast courses to something so hard????

Cut the 15 off at 10 this morning due to having electronics with me and the skies opened up. I'll finish it up after work this afternoon. Right now we're drinking some Kenyan coffee we got at the expo in Boston, not to bad.

Land: Hope the luck continues re dodging the twisters.

Cat Burgular: 400s are my favorite!

EG: Nov -Apr soounds about right. A large part of the summer population here are transplanted from FL.

Mark: I too need to do more stretching.

Lapd: I'll be glad when the rain stops here so I can finish some yardwork.

Re: Coffee of the Day (COTD) - tea is the beverage of choice here (usually Assam), but I usually manage 1 or 2 cappuccinos made with Lavazza espresso most days.

ATTQOTD - lightning storms are rarely an issue here. I might delay a pre-dawn run when it is also very wet and like some of you, I'll avoid roads when icy but always have trail options in snow and ice. Weather rarely holds me up.

Shreve - sounds like a great adventure - would like to hear more about it at some point

Spider - I checked out Bayshore and it looks like a great race. Look forward to seeing how you do.

CVB - your upcoming 50 sounds daunting!

Runn262 - great result at the Poconos.

Off to track shortly. On my return, a late supper with DW. Think we'll watch a film I recorded, 'Thelma and Louise go to Hilton Head'. Plot spoiler coming up here - apparently just before the cliff scene, two tires blow out and they live happily ever after!

DrBart - I should carry a few dollars for that purpose. I don't carry any to be sure a robber would get none... yet I've never been robbed. :-) So much for that argument. The "need a drink" urge has happened several times. Time for a change there. Hilton Head... nice place.

Spider - That link is different from the last one... maybe I confused Bayshore with another. Thanks for the info.

CVB - I appreciate knowing things like that (Civits kept in cages in poor conditions)... The coffee was a gift so I had little choice but sure was ignorant about it. That would be yet another reason to not buy it. Cost already stopped any such purchase as those cups were likely about $10-15 each... They were not THAT good. You're right, I did not know. The "hilarious" part was why my friend bought it for me. He also bought a bag of elephant poo for my wife (NOT to eat though :-))

Burg - Yeah, the stretching works. I can skip once in a while, but not like I have been... Responsibility sucks, but it is better. :-)... hahahaha... by a duck. Yes, it is.

JOLVm - I'll have to try our local coffee roaster... crazy enough, in this tiny town, we do have one... and decades ago he was a sub-3 marathoner. Thanks for reminding me of this. We will speak no more of post running activities. :-) My 9 on Sunday took more out of me than expected... heat was likely the issue.

NoCo - Tough conditions. Wish the wind helped as much behind as it hurts in front, but nope.

Maureen - hahaha... It's interesting that the blacker I made my coffee (now I only drink straight black) the more picky I became with my coffee... I'm guessing it's just less "covered" by other tastes.

Itza - I've had Kenyan before and liked it.

Burglar - I've not had Lavazza to my knowledge. I found it interesting that in Argentina, I could not find regular coffee (except instant... that was everywhere). The better places had ONLY cafe con leche... or what I would call a non-sugar espresso with milk. I loved it, but if it wasn't around, instant was all we had. Wasn't happy about that.

Mark - during my lunch run, which was my first 80d run since last fall, i came to the conclusion that heat and lack of good fueling/hydrating was the cause. i sometimes get lazy when the "LR" is "only" 16m. i forget that without some base level of preparation, 16m can still feel rough. in this case, it wasn't bad at the time, just afterwards and into today i have felt run down. lesson learned.

Today has turned out to be a fabulous craptastic day. Seriously. I omitted to turn the key off in my car completely, and therefore, needed to call dh in from work to jumpstart my car. Great, he was busy with a broken garage door at our company we run. Then I nearly ran out of gas, but managed to coast down my street and siphoned gas from the mower into my car. Now I have a headache. Swim team this evening and yes Maureen, middle dd needs snacks for school tomorrow and I have not even had a run yet. I am going to get in a run if it is the last thing I do today.

A hectic but awesome Queen Victoria weekend in Toronto. Have not checked dailies for a while because focus is an upcoming DD grade eight graduation and prom. Running goes okay, the weekend saw mileage of 17 at just above mp, 17 at recovery and today 13 at somewhere between mp and walking pace in temps exceeding 25C. I see we have several new posters in my favorite age group being male 55 to 59. Spider I want to say good luck this weekend but you must know I am real ticked about the Gooners beating Tottenham for fourth place. Anyway Spider you know what we say on the Spurs side of North London. The Emirates, a trophy free zone. Spider Are you coming to Toronto for Scotia Waterfront? JBC on going healing vibes and did that really happen between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs? JOLVm, my regards to Lady V.

Land I am watching the news as I post, horrific scenes from OKC. I hope and pray everyone close to you is safe. Please log in and update that you are okay if you can.

Mill, I was thinking of you during that once and a lifetime comeback - particularly when they panned to the stunned crowd in Toronto. I genuinely felt bad for them (as a Red Sox fan I became used to those kind of stunning losses).

Sorry to be a lame poster again. Very busy right now but will try to come back later tonight

(Got my MRI report and it generated some questions).

Hope RW friends are ok given tornadoes.

RunningtheBurg,,, Welcome. I lurked for years myself out here. I've received a lot of good advice, support and general comradery here.

Hello peeps. Finally got home from San Antonio, five hours later than scheduled -- and just in time for a tornado warning at the Casa. I tried to call Land to see if he is safe; apparently calls to OKC are not going through right now. I saw the video from the OKC area while I was in the airport in Dallas. Tornado sirens went off for a while here; warning is now cancelled but could be re-issued if another storm develops into a twister. I'm closely monitoring weather reports and will take cover if needed. It hasn't rained a drop yet at the Casa. DS is more concerned about the safety of Insane Cat than of his dear dad. I've assured him that the three-legged one will also go into the bathtub. And tornado warning was just reissued just to our west. Grr...

Hello peeps. Finally got home from San Antonio, five hours later than scheduled -- and just in time for a tornado warning at the Casa. I tried to call Land to see if he is safe; apparently calls to OKC are not going through right now. I saw the video from the OKC area while I was in the airport in Dallas. Tornado sirens went off for a while here; warning is now cancelled but could be re-issued if another storm develops into a twister. I'm closely monitoring weather reports and will take cover if needed. It hasn't rained a drop yet at the Casa. DS is more concerned about the safety of Insane Cat than of his dear dad. I've assured him that the three-legged one will also go into the bathtub. And tornado warning was just reissued just to our west. Grr...

Let's see, landrunner got sucked up by the big tornado and got deposited in a land called Oz in Kansas where Dr. Oz. was doing his show behind some curtain.....

Nah, landrunner is fine, but landrunner's land line wasn't working until about 2118 or so, just a little while ago...everything else was...computer, internet, email, cell phone....tried calling land line with cell phone and got fast busy signal....so the 'nadoes had an effect on the phones....anyway, will write whole account later.....